Pound for Pound hail from Springfield, Illinois, not to be confused with the hometown of The Simpsons, as the true location of that fictional town has never been pinpointed. However, if Pound for Pound were to hail from that specific Springfield, I think the band would be best represented by the likes of Nelson, Kearney, Dolph, and Jimbo. Okay, I'm one person short, but there are only four "tough guys" on the show. What the hell, go ahead and add in Snake for vocals. Even if he is a little older than the others, he's got a bitchin' name comparable to Choke or Paul Bearer.
For Our Fallen Brothers opens with the punishing "Losing Battle," a minute and a half of crushing metallic hardcore. The song isn't an intro, though it is quick and to the point. Partnering it with the next song, "Vigilante," is an excellent one-two punch. I wouldn't really consider classifying the music of Pound for Pound as beatdown like many others have, but it's a nice way to describe the music. The songs stick to heavy metallic hardcore formula with a copious amount of breakdowns and forceful lyrics. A good example of this is showcased on the song "Dead Junkie:"
You've been dead for a while / Never able to realize it / A walking plague / Not wanting to admit it / The time has come / To end your fucking existence / The time has come / To end your life
The band does showcase a little flair for the metal in various points of the album. When you mix that up with their knack for writing bruising hardcore, the end result is a song like "World on my Shoulders." This is a song that easily could have been written by Merauder.
Where For Our Fallen Brothers comes up short is that a number of the songs seem to lack energy. The pace throughout many of the songs on the album just isn't quick enough; as a result some of the songs seem to drag out. It's bad when two-minute songs seem to last forever. But if the band writes more songs like "Dead Junkie" for their next album, I could see myself enjoying this more.
